The DIY Probiotics Thread

There's been a lot of talk about fermenting and culturing dairy/veg the last few days to make your own probiotics. Perhaps, we can have a thread with lots of ideas and recipes. Please feel free to post here if you have a great recipe, a success story with how this has benefited you, or a health issue you hope to address with this method.

I've just made homemade kefir by following the directions on a box of kefir grains I got from the HFS. It's now chilling in the fridge and I'm making yogurt with the oven method. If it turns out, I'll post directions.

True healthcare reform starts in your kitchen, not in Washington. ~Anonymous
The worst carrot is better than the best candybar.--TornadoGirl

I have made my own yogurt and it was delicious. If the oven method is insulating with towels and leaving the light on all night, I've done that and it came out beautifully.

I did not notice any helpful benefits from it, however, and my constipation issues started within a month of my yogurt experiments, and lactose intolerance seemed to come along with that, so no more yogurt for me

I am way too sensitive coconut milk, otherwise I'd try a coconut milk kefir. Hoping someone has an absurdly easy sauerkraut method because every recipe I've seen intimidates the heck out of me!

A suggestion re homemade yoghurt...try fermenting it for 24h. I follow the recipe proposed in Specific Carbohydrate diet and find it really helpful. It is designed for people with IBD (Crohns or colitis) so really aims to restore flora to those with substantial problems. You can read up on it on their site.

I've also lately been making sauerkraut or cortido. I used the recipe in Nourishing Traditions...could not be easier! Shredded cabbage, onion and carrots. Add salt. Mix. Keep on counter for 3 days without opening jar and it's ready! Gets better as it ages but put in fridge after 3 days.

Kombucha is another stable for me. I don't make it yet but drink GTs. SO good and great substitute for ginger ale!

I'm also excited to start making kombucha, right now I'm just drinking GT's occasionally. A friend is mailing me one of her homemade SCOBY babies soon though!! I already have the same beverage dispenser used in this continuous brew setup: And Everything Will Be Made "Rice": Kombucha

I haven't made kefir because the farm we get raw milk from sells raw milk kefir too. We don't drink a ton of it, so the pint bottles are plenty.

kombucha is my big DIY staple for me. it's pretty simple to make...
first, you need a scoby (mushroom), which you can get by pouring a bottle of GTs into a decent sized glass container with cheese cloth over the top for a couple of weeks.
then, bring a gallon of water to boil, and brew in about 7 bags of tea (i like green). i also drop in some sliced up ginger for extra flavor. once it's brewed i pull out the ginger and tea bags, and stir in nearly a cup of sugar, and let it cool down. (i can't stress the let it cool down instruction enough--my wife ended up with some bad burns after i poured boiling hot tea into a glass container and it shattered). once it's cooled down, pour it into a large glass container, toss in that scoby, cover with more cheese cloth, and let it sit for 2-3 weeks. after that you can bottle it up and re-use that scoby for your next batch.

@Namelesswonder: I do my own yogurts at home since a couple of years. Lactobacilli like it hot (40°C) for 12 and more hours. I let mine ferment for 15. I used the technique of "milk in a glass jar which is kept warm in a pot of hot water in the oven", but it was cumbersome and did not work very well. In order to keep a constant temperature for such a long time, a yogurt machine became a must. Kefir works fine at 20-22 °C and you can let it ferment for 24-36 hours without any special device.
I also do my own sauerkraut: I know some purists would scream to the scandal but I do like this: sometimes I strain my kefir to make a cheese cream, the whey is full of healthy bacteria and lactic acid: I use it as a starter culture for fermenting the cabbage. I let it ferment for 2 weeks, the risk of mould if basically zero because of the existing lactic acid, just make sure that every single piece of cabbage under the brine, check for it regularly because kefir's fermentation also produces gases (it contains saccaromices cervisiae) and the leaves will tend to get above the surface. Two weeks may seem an eternity, but the taste is not even comparable to the one you buy at the supermarket (in the sense, it's better)

@PrimalRob: Coconut kefir rocks, that's another favorite that I like doing. The fatty part of the coconut starts floating and separates from the coconut water. After 24 hours of fermentation I put it in the fridge to make it harden so it is easier to separate. The part on the top can be used as... coconut ice cream. Add some crumbled pistachios on the top and you get a fantastic dessert which is just as tasty as regular ones, just it is low carbs and high in coconut's saturated fats

@PrimalRob: Coconut kefir rocks, that's another favorite that I like doing. The fatty part of the coconut starts floating and separates from the coconut water. After 24 hours of fermentation I put it in the fridge to make it harden so it is easier to separate. The part on the top can be used as... coconut ice cream. Add some crumbled pistachios on the top and you get a fantastic dessert which is just as tasty as regular ones, just it is low carbs and high in coconut's saturated fats

@Everybody: Petite question, what does GT stand for?

Alex, will you please come to NH so i can kiss you on the mouth? you just made my summer.

and GTs is a popular brand of kombucha sold in stores. their gingerade is easily one of the best beverages i've ever had (that's not hyperbole...it's seriously good).

Thanks everyone for participating in this thread. My kefir turned out really well. With a little shake of stevia and some cinnamon my 9 year old will slurp it right down, and I think I can replace her morning milk with it. The yogurt is so easy. I just poured some milk in a couple of mason jars and added about a 1/4 cup of store bought plain yogurt. I turned the oven on 170 degrees (lowest it would go) to warm then turned it back off, let it cool a few minutes, and put my jars in the oven with the oven light left on. In the morning, it's perfect yogurt and so much cheaper than the store bought kind. I have managed to source some raw milk that is produced by grassfed cows a few hours from my home. A local farm receives it and I can pick it up, so that's awesome. The kefir and yogurt taste great. I'm also awaiting a kombucha culture to try my hand at making that for another beverage option. And then there's sauerkraut...need a few new jars and I will start that. Happy culturing!

True healthcare reform starts in your kitchen, not in Washington. ~Anonymous
The worst carrot is better than the best candybar.--TornadoGirl